by Emily Moss
Four members of North’s debate team attended a tournament at the Bronx High School of Science in New York Friday, Oct 17 and Saturday, Oct 18, according to senior Bill Shen, a captain of the team.
Over 300 teams of two students each competed in North’s category of debate, said Shen, though the competition also hosted a variety of other genres of speech and debate.
Shen and junior Edward Ding scored 3-4, while senior Daniel Ruttenberg and sophomore Lucy Zheng scored 1-6, said Shen.
At the tournament, students discussed the topic of whether “subsidies to professional sports organizations in the United States benefit local communities,” according to Shen. The topic had been announced in mid-August, and members of the team prepared by conducting detailed research and holding mock debates.
“I’d say that on average there are at least 30 hours of work put in from each member of a two-person team,” said Shen.
He added that this was the team’s first tournament at the Bronx High School of Science but that in the past, the team has competed at Yale, Harvard, and Columbia, as well as in several Massachusetts towns, including Lexington and Manchester-Essex.
This past weekend, eight new members of debate team competed in a novice tournament, with one team scoring 3-0, one scoring 1-2, and two other teams scoring 2-1, said Shen.
The next tournament will take place in Lexington, according to Shen, and students will discuss the topic of genetically modified foods.